Good morning to all of you who had a sleepless night watching the UK General Election! As well as #GE2017, this week we also kept an eye on European Development Days and the future of European defence.

To mark his first anniversary in the role as the EU’s inaugural Special Envoy for the Freedom of Religion or Belief Outside the EU, EURACTIV.com interviewed Ján Figeľ about the headscarf ban, Islamist terrorism and growing up Catholic in a communist state.

One year ago, in a cold basement of Astrid Hospital, Anne Cameron Cain frantically searched for news of her husband. Along with dozens of other families, the Cains were not prepared for the tragic events of that day, which took the lives of both Anne's husband Alexander Pinczowski and her sister-in-law Sascha Pinczowski.

The seasons are changing. As the weather gets better, Europe's migration crisis gets worse. In a year of critical elections, Malta brings its frontline Mediterranean experience to the leadership of the presidency of the European Union.

It's a time of crisis, global turbulence, and economic change. It's also a time of opportunity. On the first of January, for the first time, Malta took up the presidency of the Council of the European Union.

In Bratislava this week, EU heads of state and government should show clear resolve that they are departing from business as usual, and President of the Commission Jean Claude Juncker should raise the bar, said Enrico Letta in a Citizens’...

As African and European leaders are meeting for a 4-day Summit in Brussels, where more that 80 nations are attending, the European Union pledged on Wednesday to spend an extra 800 million euros on peacekeeping missions in Africa.

Only days after former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi praised the actions of ex-dictator Benito Mussolini, the European Union has warned that violent extremism in on the rise across Europe and it's becoming a serious security threat.
'Not since World War II have extremist and populist forces had so much influence on national parliaments as they have today', said EU commissioner for Home Affairs cecilia Malmstrom.

Cyberspace is a new and unfamiliar domain that has gradually become the 'nervous system' through which society operates. In a world where over 87% of the population are mobile users , the stark reality is that cyber security is a growing global challenge demanding rational and universal solutions.
As governments, enterprises and consumers have become increasingly reliant on ICT solutions that integrate inputs designed, developed, coded and manufactured by multiple suppliers around the world, the scale of the cyber security challenge has grown exponentially.

NATO's new European missile defense system is ready too start operating. This is one of the messages that came out of a two-day Summit held in Chicago where the leaders of the 28-nation alliance are gathering.
The mechanism will link together the missile defense systems of all the allies and it will be controlled by NATO.
NATO's Secretary general said that this is the first step towards a long-term goal of providing full coverage and protection for all NATO European populations.